The Dog on Staten Island by Laurie Conrad
Submitted by the author 8 Mar 2005

Several times a year I would stay with friends on Staten
Island, sometimes for weeks at a stretch. They lived in St. George, which is
near the ferry.

And on the way from the ferry to their house I passed a
grocery store guarded by a large tan brutish dog on a chain - whose aura, by the
way, was terrible.

The dog was chained outside the store in all weather, and the
owner mentioned that at night the dog was locked in the basement. Not a great
life for a dog, or any other being for that matter. The dog growled if you came
anywhere near him, and was in general otherwise non-responsive and churlish.

In time, as I learned about the spiritual yearnings and the
spiritual development of animals, I decided that this dog needed spiritual
training - for the sake of his own soul, but also for the souls of those around
him, including his master. Following a low, short growl from my student-to-be, I
stood before him and inwardly told him of Jesus and Mary and the saints. I told
him that if he were a good doggie, one day he would go to a beautiful realm
filled with love, where there were gardens and beautiful, kind, people and
saints and dog biscuits and everything else he could ever want - and I sent him
a mental image of such a place, bathed in Sunshine and Peace. He pretended that
he was annoyed and not listening, but I could see that he was
listening, and he was even thinking.

I mentally asked St. Francis to come and speak with the dog,
and to watch over him in general. I told the dog to pray everyday: i.e. to tell
Jesus and Mary that he loved them and that he wanted to be a good doggie. Since
the grocery store was only a block away, and on the main street, I saw him many
times that visit. I repeated my lecture every time I saw him, and his aura did
seem somewhat improved by the time I left Staten Island.

I returned to Staten Island a few months after. I had actually
forgotten about the unhappy guard dog, but as I turned the corner to the main
street - the dog was waiting for me, his head turned in my direction, as though
he knew I was coming. Even though he was chained in front of the grocery store
halfway down the block, I saw him instantly. I saw him instantly because his
aura was so filled with Light that he shone. Out of all the people and strollers
and stores and busses and cars and a plethora of other perceptions - my
attention was riveted on the dog's Light.

To see such a change in a being, in such a short time, was
remarkable, and I told him so. He acted a bit shy with me - although he still
maintained his guard dog persona, which was appropriate. In short, he was a
changed dog. I saw him almost every day of my visit, and encouraged him to
continue his spiritual practices when I left Staten Island.

A few months later, back in Ithaca, late one night (and I'm
embarrassed to say that I was watching Star Trek on television), suddenly, as
sometimes happens, a little movie started playing in my head. I closed my eyes
to better see, and there were dogs, hundreds of dogs, all sizes and shapes,
colors and breeds, sitting in a single line, one behind the other, it seemed for
miles - as far as one could see to the horizon. They were all well behaved, and
seemed happy and expectant, a little excited, yet sitting quietly in that long,
very long, orderly row. Then, as though the camera taping the show zoomed in for
a close-up, suddenly I was standing over the tan dog from Staten Island. There
was no mistake about it, it was him.

Wonderingly, I turned in the other direction, to see where all
these dogs were facing, where the line began. There were only a few dogs ahead
of the dog from Staten Island - and at the head of the line stood Christ. Other
dogs were playing and running in a beautiful countryside nearby. Then the inner
movie dissolved.

I didn't know what the clairvoyant movie meant.

Six months or so later I returned to my friends on Staten
Island. As I came to the corner I expected the Staten Island dog to turn his
head my way, and greet me with his prayers as he had done on my last visit. He
did not, in fact he wasn't there.

I went inside the cluttered grocery and found the owner. "
Where's your doggie? " I asked. Of course, no one in the world, I'm sure, had
ever called his guard dog a doggie before. He looked a little puzzled and then
offhandedly said " Oh, the dog - he died about six months ago, " and then he
turned and talked loudly with a customer.

About six months ago was when I had watched the clairvoyant
vision. And even as I write this, so many years later, I am filled with such
love for the dog on Staten Island who accomplished so much so quickly - a poor
guard dog who freed himself from his difficult life and gained a beautiful realm
where Christ Himself would come.

This story is from the book "The Spiritual Life of Animals and
Plants", a collection of true stories written by Laurie Conrad. The book speaks
of miracles and healings - as well as the innate spirituality of animals. The
author is giving a large percentage of her profits to animalprotection organizations. For more information on
the author and the book go to
www.figarobooks.com

Laurie Conrad is also a divine healer who works with the
Distant Healing Network, a non-profit group of healers from around the world who
send healing to anyone who requests it.
www.the-dhn.com

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